More bogus "security" nonsense

mnblade

mnblade

Joined
Feb 7, 2000
Messages
6,656
I found this depressing account of a trip to Yankee Stadium here. It's dated Oct. 16

============================


I always expected Yankee Stadium to be at its best and loudest in the postseason. But in the back of my mind was the fact that it was my first trip to New York since the events of September 11th, and I really wasn't sure what to expect. In fact, the game took place exactly one month after the attacks. The phrase "everything's different now" is on many people's lips these days, and with good reason.

The first change we encountered was the increased security at the Stadium, which we expected. For weeks the radio announcers had been saying that coolers, backpacks and large bags were not going to be allowed. What they were NOT saying, perhaps because they were trying to downplay the seriousness of the security changes, is that pocket knives, umbrellas, and other "potential weapons" were not allowed either. They even had men with bullhorns positioned around the stadium announcing that backpacks, coolers, and large bags would not be allowed. These guys also mentioned umbrellas, and new signs were put up around the Stadium replacing the old "no bottles, no cans" signs with "no bottles, cans, large bags, umbrellas, coolers" signs.

Note that at no point were knives, scissors, nail files, Leatherman tools, or other things with blades mentioned in the prohibited list. Well, we figured, you can't hijack a stadium--they must be more worried about bombs in people's bags and coolers. It never dawned on us that utilitarian blades like Swiss army knives or Leatherman tools, which are legal to carry, would be an issue.

But they were. After being screened outside the gates by the first group of security guards who looked in our bags and repeated the prohibitions, we went through the turnstiles and had our tickets torn. As anyone who has ever been to the stadium before knows, once your ticket is taken, you can't go out and come back in. We then came to more security guards who looked in our bags a second time. And then we were passed to a THIRD group of guards, these with handheld metal detectors, who searched us. Among the things their detectors found: the foil wrapper on a piece of gum in my pocket and Rich's Swiss Army knife. (Among the things they did NOT find: the penknife attached to my keys and the Leatherman tool on Rich's belt.) They wouldn't allow Rich to take the Swiss into the stadium, but they wouldn't let him go out to put it in the car, either. They wouldn't allow him to check it somewhere and pick it up later. The only choice they gave him was to either throw it away (they claimed they would put it in the trash after taking it from him) or leave the stadium with it and not come back.

Now, if the purpose of taking Rich's and other random people's knives away was to make the stadium safer, I have to say that it didn't serve that purpose. As I mentioned, we actually had two other utilitarian "knives" on our persons that they didn't even find, and several other fans I talked to said the guards didn't find what they were carrying either. Anyone who PLANNED to make mayhem or do harm with a knife could have easily snuck one in. So the increased security didn't end up making me feel safer--it just made me feel that the fear running through the city since September 11th has really caused a lot of stupidity.
 
I went to a trade show at the Javitz Convention Center (New York City) this week. I quickly discovered that I was no longer allowed to walk in the front door. The Javitz Center has about 100 doors in the front and they were all "locked". Every person entering the building had to pass by a "guard" that checked your "I.D." The I.D. check was a joke.
The remaining 99 front doors were "locked" with yellow CAUTION tape. After all, everyone knows that CAUTION tape can't be broken by terrorists.
The only thing that this change in security accomplished was to slow down the law-abiding citizens that entered the building and thereby slowed down commerce.
 
mckgreg...how this - NOTHING.

If you think they should be doing "something" please tell me how prohibiting umbrellas from Yankee stadium makes anyone safer. Please also tell me how an "ID check" at a convention center enhances security. Remember, the 911 hijackers had plenty of ID - passports, driver licenses, etc.
 
In fact I would bet money that on the one hijacked plane that didn't hit its target on 9/11, the passengers who fought back used their legally and responsibly carried pocket knives to do the right thing. If anything, air travellers are now less safe than they were now that they've been disarmed...
 
Oh, lay off.

It was one month after 9/11. Bodies were still smouldering. F-16s were still patrolling NYC airspace. People reacted strongly because we thought 10,000 people had just died. They had to play TV ads just to convince people not to go out and kill their muslim neighbors.

Knife laws in NYC were among the strictest in the nation long before Sep. 11, so if you want to rant about people taking away your rights you'll have to look much farther back than 9/11.

-Chris
 
Originally posted by numberthree
*edited for manners*
Click to expand...
Thank you :D

Originally posted by Arathil
Knife laws in NYC were among the strictest in the nation long before Sep. 11, ...
Click to expand...
I lived and worked in New York City most of my life. Knife laws, and more to the point, enforcement of knife laws, was far from strict. I always had a slipjoint or folder, later also a multitool. When I went hiking in the park, generally Central Park in Nanhattan or Van Cortlandt in the Bronx, I carried a fixed blade on my belt. Camo fatigues and a hiking staff. Long hair and beard. No hassle, ever.

You may be thinking of our gun laws, which are so strict they are essentially prohibitory.
 
What I find really interesting is that a regular person, in other words someone who's not a knife or self-defense nut, a survivalist, or a raging libertarian, so easily picked up on and pointed out how ludicrous the Yankee Stadium measures are. There's an all-too-rare air of common sense to sentences such as these:

"Well, we figured, you can't hijack a stadium--they must be more worried about bombs in people's bags and coolers. It never dawned on us that utilitarian blades like Swiss army knives or Leatherman tools, which are legal to carry, would be an issue."

"Anyone who PLANNED to make mayhem or do harm with a knife could have easily snuck one in."
 
Originally posted by numberthree
In fact I would bet money that on the one hijacked plane that didn't hit its target on 9/11, the passengers who fought back used their legally and responsibly carried pocket knives to do the right thing.
Click to expand...
An excellent point, and one that you will NEVER hear in the media.
 
My friend and fellow firefighter up here in Rochester goes to NYC often,and always takes in a Yankees game.He carries (or did) a s.a.k.,he goes though one security check then another,where they find his s.a.k and take it and throw it in the trash!!

Yes I know they would not take mine,I would leave,but he's caught off guard and worried that he already went past one check and that maybe he missed a sign forbidding knives,so he gives it up.

Now get this,its BAT night and they give him a FULL SIZED BAT.:rolleyes: Take your s.a.k give you a bat.Too funny.
 
My father took me to bat night at Shea Stadium (Mets) a couple of times when I was a kid. I had no idea that I was in a building filled with 40,000 people all carrying deadly weapons!

I bet that everyone is more polite on bat night.
 
1984.....here we come. What are YOU gonna do about it? vote? well that diddn't seem to work in the last election. I'd say the Government's goals (will?) surpass the evils of Nazi Germany. They'll make EVERYTHING illegal until half of us are in the concentration camps er... jails... making toothbrushes for the man. Well... I'm not gonna brush your teeth for you... do a some research and you'll find... There is evidence showing that the Bush family helped fund Hitler's efforts. Go ahead and call me names. Curse me and piss your pants in front of your computer. Just remember, I'll be sitting in Holland having a cup of coffee while you're performing for the govt. issue cameras in your home. They protect you from yourself, you know. I'll again quote the fine words of Benjamin Franklin... "Those who value security over freedom deserve neither."
 
It's funny how you whip out words like it means something I should give a rats ass about.. I simply bring light, you are calling Ben Franklins light trolling, like causing trouble??? You just have no clue, do you?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top